So I've been putting this off. Making a comedy short film. I always felt that making something funny is the cheap way to get people to like your stuff. That anyone can do a comedy sketch, it's alot harder to make something that is good without any comedy. Tonight I actually went and saw Guardians of the Galaxy which was pretty good and I recommend it. But Idk, it employs the same concept as the Avengers. Mask an average plot with some humor and decently good characters. And Guardians of the Galaxy hits that on the head. What do you think of comedy in movies?

When FCPX released, it had few effects and many were useless but here are some cool things that you can do with fcpx. And that you should do more often....

Unsharpening Mask

Although FCPX only comes with the typical sharpening which often creates an ugly look, Alexa4d has created some nice plugins such as Unsharp mask and some others that you should check out such as pull focus. Check them out at - http://blog.alex4d.com/fcpx/

Wiggle Effect

You may miss your nice wiggle effect from Adobe After effects and Premiere but FCPX has it's own and it's called the handheld effect. While this effect is meant to be applied on full screen videos to create a handheld look, it can also be applied to things such as text to create the look you want.

Position Tool (P)

Don't like the magnetic timeline or want a pause in the timeline, you can move clips to the exact spot you want when in position tool mode and it adds black space in the middle.

Letterbox Effect

You may pass over this one as not that cool or that you can do that yourself but, FCPX has several different aspect ratios that you can choose so that you can get the exact crop to fit with other images.

Mossaic

FCPX calls it Pixellate.

Import PhotoShop Files

While the integration isn't too great and the layer sizes get messed up, FCPX can import photoshop files which allows you to do some motion graphics inside of FCPX if your kind of on a budget and can't get after effects.

In conclusion, although many disregard FCPX as a professional tool, it can be a great tool if you use it in the right way.

It's been 1 year since my first post on this website. And I never would have thought it would get this far. Many things have happened since then.... The Blog has received 6.7k views and my youtube page has recently hit 15k views. So I'd like to thank everyone out there reading and watching. And I hope my content has given you something whether that be some new filmmaking knowledge, inspiration or just some fun.

Check out my new film filmed at Ocean Grove on my Canon 600D and my Tamron 17-50 f2.8. (My review of that lens - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUara8WoDvs&list=UU4n_IOF_MP3qCvj5AWKm4Ug ) it was usually filmed at f2.8 with a high shutter around 1/400ish and iso 100. Corrected, Graded, and sharpened in FCPX. The Music was by Myself. Exported in ProRes 422. Some close up shots such as with the seagulls was with the t3i's 3x digital zoom feature which doesn't reduce resolution but it sure adds some more rolling shutter. Shot on a monopod. Shot on Cinestyle picture profile.

or you can watch it on Vimeo. Unfortunately, due to the data limits, I had to re-export it in h.264. But Vimeo's Compression is a little bit less so it may look slightly better. It's also downscaled to 720p :(

We all make mistakes, it's part of life but some mistakes are more expensive than others. I have made a few mistakes with gear I have bought that I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to buy something different. So I hope you take my advice and don't make the same mistakes as me.

1) Phantom Powered Shotgun

Having a phantom power shotgun will almost always cost you $200 more just to get the power. Either you need something in between the camera and the mic (if you do in camera audio) or an external recorder. I made the mistake of buying the MXL Fr-300. It costs about $150 and then I spent countless amounts of money trying to get a setup that I liked and I just ended up replacing it. In fact the fact that I have a phantom power mic is the reason my 1/8" jack on my 600D is broken.

Solution

I bought an H1 to replace it but had I went back in time, I would have bought a Rode Video Mic.

2) Buying a Tripod @ Best Buy

I once bought a tripod at best buy for $60 which was a terrible idea because they have a limited selection and rarely have the most popular tripods. So the tripod head ended up breaking and I had to replace it.

Solution

Bought the smith victor tripod - Review Bellow

Another Tip- Buy Popular Items

Popular items are popular for a reason. It's often because of the price and quality of the item is much higher than what other companies offer. So Buying something like a rode video mic or a Blackmagic Pocket Camera is a very good idea.

Although I have made some bad gear choices, one gear choice I do not regret is my recent purchase of the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8. You can watch the review bellow.

The Problem

The DSLR revolution promised us amazing video quality at a cheap price, but if you ask any professional and they'll tell you that the lens is more important than the camera body. Unfortunately we were stuck with the horible quality of lenses like the Canon 18-55 f3.5-5.6. While this lens can take some nice outside shots, however once you move inside, you remember how horrible of a lens it is. So are there any cheap alternatives?

Solutions?

Well you could buy a nice new canon lens. This would give you great quality lenses, but if you want anything with an aperture under f/4 and a zoom lens.... It will most likely cost about $1000. Another option is to buy prime lenses. And if your cheap, like me, you'll buy vintage prime lenses. While the image quality can be iffy, they offer amazingly fast lenses at low prices like $30. However for events, it's hard to change lenses every time you want a different shot. So you need a zoom. But Vintage zooms are often just as bad or worse than the canon kit lens. This is where the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 comes in.

Pros

Range (17-50 mm is a great range for general usage of video and photography)

Fast Lens

Quick Auto Focus (Vintage lens can't use auto focus on DSLRs)

Cons

Short Focus Throw

Zoom Ring a little Sticky

Sometimes the Magic Lantern shows the wrong focal distance on the settings

Loud Focus and Aperture Motors

Conclusion

Overall the lens is a great alternative to the canon kit lens and even vintage prime lenses. It's a great addition to your lens kit if you can get over the minor drawbacks of it, for both filmmaker, photographers, pros, and beginners alike.

So that's it. If you want more details, watch the video. Sorry the video's a little bit long, but I had a lot to say about this lens.

Zachary Will

Zachary Will is an Award-Winning Filmmaker creating short films and content for the Internet as the owner of Riverside Studios. He has a Bachelor's in Film from Full Sail University. He has worked on productions for companies like Webmd, Sears, Home Depot, Six Flags and more!﻿